Northwest Power and Conservation Council

NOAA biologist Brian Burke says mixed ocean conditions may lead to average salmon runs, but climate change is disrupting ecosystems—making continued research critical.

(Runtime 1:00)Looking back on this past winter, some Northwest utilities have noticed they were really close to potential outages during extremely cold…

Coal plant closures in the Northwest and an increase in natural gas generation meant fewer heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions recently contributed to climate change, according to new data from the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.

Upper Columbia tribes want help to continue reintroducing salmon above Grand Coulee Dam.

Salmon survive best when the water is cooler along the coast and warmer farther out. Colder La Niña conditions have also led to higher salmon counts. Right now, that’s exactly what’s happening. But things will likely change over the summer.

The Texas blackout is another reminder that more frequent, climate-driven extreme weather puts stress on the country's electricity grid. It came just months after outages in California aimed at preventing wildfires. Compounding this, electricity likely will be even more important in coming years amid a push to electrify cars and homes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That has many grid experts saying it's time to upgrade the country's electricity infrastructure.

“In this year of, well, exceptions, we’ve been handed an unprecedented level of damage to our wildlife mitigation program,” a Washington state wildlife biologist recently told the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.